Microcontrols that changed strategies in Starcraft

Advanced regional tactics can sometimes change the whole game’s strategy.

Macedonian phalanx

Macedonian phalax is an infantry formation developed by Philip II and used by his son Alexander the Great the conquer the Achaemenid Empire and other armies. Phalanxes remained dominant on battlefields thoughout the Hellenistic period, although wars had developed into more protracted operations generally involving sieges and naval combat as much as pitched battle, until they were finally displaced by the Roman legions.

2012 TVing Star League Quarterfinals, OGN

It is also the case with RTS games such as Starcraft. Every disruptive new controls affected the game meta, and sometimes changed the terrains of macro strategies.

일꾼 비비기 worker “bibigi”

2017 ASL team battle. source Africa TV. Worker “bibigi” is used to minimize main target damage from opponent melee units.

Because of development of worker “bibigi” microcontrol, the effectiveness of early game rushes were reduced. Also, in some specific maps, workers could be sent to mineral-blocked places and build new multi bases with worker “bibigi”.

Tekken Dragoon

If the player is aware of opponent’s Spier Mine locations, dragoon can attack those mines by “Tekken Dragoon” control without receiving damage. It allows dragoons to react to Spider Mines and retreat a few steps and hold, evading the explosion. Because the microcontrol makes dragoons to make short steps back and forth, people call this control “Tekken Dragoon” since it resembles the martial art of Tekken.

source: UNESCO

Notable players who are famous for using Tekken Dragoon control is 윤용태 and 김택용.

Because of this microcontrol, Protoss players could fight back against Terran players with Spider Mine research upgrade without Observers. It became almost a requirement for protoss players to tackle the early Spider Mine research from FD Terrans.

It requires memorization of mine locations and also is a risk taking from high damage, so even professional players tend to wait for Observers to come out rather than making extra microcontrol efforts if not absolutely necessary.

http://vod.afreecatv.com/PLAYER/STATION/21595786 2017 KT GIGA ASL 최호선 vs 김택용

Shuttle Reaver

Shuttle Reaver is a must for protoss users. In early versions of Starcraft, Reavers could attack right after landing. It was called “Shooting Reaver” back then. Becuase this tactic was too effective, time of attack was delayed after being unloaded from the shuttle in patch 1.04.

Notable players : 김성제, 박정석, 강민, 송병구

2006 Sky Pro League Allstars

When Protoss has Shuttle Reaver in their arsenal, it can explosively launch attack workers, discouraging the opponent from making aggressive moves. So the Shuttle Reaver strat is used as a timing dealer that enables Protoss players to prepare next sequences of moves. If used well, Shuttle Reaver can give you more time before the opponent can expand more.

Shuttle Reaver made the foundation for the Reaver Carrier strat, game meta which prevailed in 2007. It uses Shuttle Reaver to buy some time before transition to Carriers.

2007 Daum Star League 송병구vs이영호 When Reaver gets destroyed, it becomes easier for Terran to expand to the center

2008 Shinhan Pro Leauge 박상우 vs 박대만 Over 30 kills by Reaver Shuttle guerilla tactics

Marine Controls

Marines used to run away at the sight of Lurkers, but legendary pro player SlayrS_BoxeR(임요환) showed some crazy marine microcontrols, sometimes getting a Lurker kill with a single marine, making the fans cheer. Using terrains, and clever use of Medics, and confusing the Lurkers with single marines, revolutionary microcontrols that resulted in unlikely profit from each combat, made him one of the legendary figures of E-sports.

2001 Coca Cola StarLeague 임요환 vs 김신덕 Single marine kills a Lurker

2004 EVER StarLeague 임요환 vs 최연성 SlayerS_BoxeR’s microcontrols made him to win against odds in regional combats, sometimes giving him a easy win.

2003 KTF EVER playoff 임요환 vs 홍진호. Why don’t his Marines get killed?! – Commentators of the game

After his microcontrols got adopted by other Terran players, they could move more freely among Lurker field, and also in response, the Zerg players tried not to place Lurkers alone in open field.

Mutalisk clustering : how it changed game meta

One of the first players who showed the effectiveness of Mutalisk clustering was 박성준, and he could achieve this by pure dexterity of his hands and by right clicking on the minerals.

But this control was only used by 박성준 only, and others tried to copy the control, but wasn’t as effective and disruptive.

Later, 서경종 found other ways of Mutalisk clustering, and this was a turning point for the game meta for Zerg players.

Mutalisk clustering

When air units move in Starcraft, when heterogeneous units are in the same troop, they tend to cluster. Most commonly used units for Mutalisk clustering is pre-upgrade Overlords, or burrowed units.

vs Terran

Mutalisks are fast, versatile, and used as main assault units against Terrans. Zerg players bite at the weak points of Terran base, while Terran players have to react against unpredictable movements of the opponent.

So the Terran players have no choice to follow the opponent Zerg’s pace, and the Zerg players can spare some time and resource for subsequent multi or strategies.

KT GIGA ASL 김성현 vs 이제동 role of mutalisk : biting away at opponent troop’s weak points, sparing more time.

So it progresses to 3-Hatchery or MultiBase-Mutalisk, Lurker-Hive, 3-gas Defiler - 목동체제(Ultralisk-Zergling). Mutalisks take the role of reducing enemy units and creating time for exapansion.

These game meta became possible due to Mutalisk Clustering. It can make room for Zerg players to take profit from fast, versatile units until Terran players produce Science Vessels.

KT GIGA ASL 김성현 vs 이제동 role of mutalisk : biting away at opponent troop’s weak points, sparing more time.

vs Protoss

Mutalisk clustering also worked as a great card for Protoss. Photon Cannons do not serve as effetive means of defense for multiple mutalisks, and Dragoons are not capable of reacting to mutalisks because of their attacking patterns and internal algorithm.

To counter Mutalisks, some more tech units are needed, but Corsairs are not formidable unless they increase in numbers, and Dark Achons’s mielstorms are hard to see for they require time and resources to develop.

High Templars can effectively attack mutalisks, but it is vice-versa. Mutalisks can effectively intercept protected high templars among other Protoss units.

KT GIGA ASL S3 김민철 vs 도재욱 mutalisk attaking high templars protected by other Protoss units.

vs Zerg

2009 박카스 StarLeague Zerg-Zerg mutalisk combats are all about whose microcontrol is better.

Because not a lot of units are produced in Zerg-Zerg game, large portion of the games ended up in Lair stage, often its results determined by the Mutalisk controls.

See also

Other notable examples are Stop Lurkers, Moving Shot, Worker Assault, Distributed Drop, Vulture Spider Mine - Bibigi, Larva moving. They appear in games and surprise us, and then they become more popular and become part of the game, changing the game meta. They can sometimes change the whole game’s strategy. And also, there are lots of other controls exists that weren’t shown here.

The influence of new micros to game meta and strats

The balance of the game is sometimes shifted by some regional profits and losses, and the introduction of new micros often changed the way Starcraft players play the game. Although the importance of both micro and macro cannot be understated, It is interesting to see how it evolves with regard to each other.